Visualitza/Obre

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament de Teoria i Història de l'Arquitectura i Tècniques de la Comunicació

Tipus de documentTesi

Data de defensa2017-01-11

EditorUniversitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Condicions d'accésAccés obert

Abstract

The work of Robert Delaunay and particularly his Eiffel Tower paintings are recognized as an essential symbol of modern art. However, their precise assessment by historians varies and there are aspects of these works that have scarcely been studied. The focus of this thesis aims at exploring and unravelling implicit or imprecise connections in several specific topics, like the relation between Delaunay and some contemporary painters, but pre-eminently the links with architectural theory and practice in the first half of the twentieth century.
The period comprised between 1850 and 1940 has been taken as a frame of reference. First of all, the great iron constructions and especially the ones built in Paris in the second half of the nineteenth century, are presented in the context of the Industrial Revolution. Particular interest is placed on the production of Gustave Eiffel, including his outstanding viaducts and the 300 meter tower, a summit of engineering but also a unique work.
From here on, we comment on the critical assessment of these buildings and the different modalities of representation they appeared in, contributing to their popularity. Special emphasis is placed on the images produced by painters, which have allowed us to find traits that anticipate the canvases by Delaunay and to observe the process of transformation and fragmentation undergone concurrently by painting and architecture from the raise of Impressionism until the outbreak of the avant-garde.
Next, the artist Robert Delaunay is introduced through a brief biographical synopsis, to then move on to review the main influences on his work, comprising Monet’s Impressionism, Seurat and Cézanne’s Postimpressionist proposals, and Picasso’s Cubism. His relation with Futurism is also analysed, as well as his role as a pioneer of abstract painting and his special relation with architecture, manifested in his theoretical formulations and his rendering of gothic and modern buildings.
Following this, Delaunay's pictorial production inspired by the Eiffel Tower is commented and classified in five groups: the Villes, the first Tours, the great compositions, the Fenêtres and the late Tours. In each one, the artist approaches the monument from a singular perspective, applying in many cases a visual split up that might not seem too rigorous but will prove extremely fertile. The paintings of the tower will bear an impact on the way the public and other artists perceive Eiffel’s monument and by extension all the iron buildings of the nineteenth century. We also explain in what way the different series, that are usually considered as autonomous, possess a sense of unity.
A comparative study between Delaunay and the contemporary painters who represented the Eiffel Tower and other modern buildings influenced by him is also presented. Among these are mentioned the cases of American artist John Marin, and above all, Fernand Léger and Marc Chagall.
Delaunay interacts dynamically with the tower, revolutionizing the relation between painting and construction. He makes the most of the coincidental characteristics of the monument and its depictions to establish a symbiosis between pictorial and architectural languages. He uses as well the grid, a common feature in modern art and particularly in Cubism, as a fundamental tool in this process of synthesis. The representational system employed would originate partly in the tectonic features of the Eiffel Tower.
The influence of Delaunay's paintings will be especially noticeable in the utopian projects of the Russian avant-garde architects, which will be demonstrated through a series of examples. Finally, we explain how Delaunay’s vision transformed the perception of the great iron constructions and contributed to the formulation of a theoretical reference frame for modern architecture in the first half of the twentieth century, through his influence on Le Corbusier and particularly on Sigfried Giedion.